A New King
by Dmc Fan
Summary: Dante gets captured by a new type of demon and finds out that the demon world has a new ruler. Rated for torture and some swearing. R&R?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry.

Tortured cries rang down the darkened corridor. Blood trickled along the floor, seeping from different cells, different wounds, and different victims. Two demons dragged a semi-conscious prisoner from his cell and started to march up the corridor. Pleas for mercy screamed from the shadows but to no avail, the demons ignored them all. The prisoner between the demons stirred as a particularly violent shriek threatened to deafen him. Realising what was going on the prisoner tried to relinquish himself from the demons grip.

The demons were a new species though, genetically modified for the sole purpose of defeating and enslaving everything and everyone. But the prisoner wasn't to know that, all he knew was that the demons that he had fought so well against before were suddenly much stronger and definitely a lot smarter than they had been previously. He felt his arms being locked into magically reinforced chains and a feeling of dread raced through his mind. This had happened before. He wasn't sure he could last a second time.

Searing pain racked through the prisoner's body, taking away his breathe and making every muscle burn intensely. He let out a cry of pain involuntarily. Darkness closed in, trying to pull him into unconsciousness but suddenly the pain stopped. Legs threatening to buckle, the former demon hunter raised his head to meet the contemptuous gaze of his captors. One of them commanded him to fall on his knees but the voice was hazy as if coming from a different world.

The prisoner shook his head and with the last of his strength pulled himself upright. He didn't notice the demon behind him raise its scythe; the edges of his vision were darkening. Again the distant voice told him to kneel before them. Again the prisoner refused. The blunt end of the scythe was bought down against his skull with a harsh crack. Memories swum before his eyes as Dante collapsed.

_"You're having a party without me?" The red leather clad demon hunter burst through the door firing several rounds of ammunition into every demon in the room, expecting them to die. When none of the demons dropped dead onto the floor, the demon hunter paused. The abyss demons smirked and started to approach. Dante holstered the handguns and drew Rebellion. _

_"Oh well…Just remember to invite me next time and I won't have to gatecrash again!" Dante said and swung his sword experimentally in a circle at the surrounding demons.  
__"That's if you survive…" The leading demon snarled. The demon hunter looked puzzled._

_"You're an abyss demon and you can talk more than the usual moan? Has Mundus decided to pull his finger out for once and create better demons? About time if you ask me!" The abyss demons snorted._

_"Where have you been demon hunter? Mundus has been dead for months. We have a new ruler. He's much more powerful than Mundus ever was and we are his elite. We'll defeat you and bring your broken, bleeding form to kneel before him." The other demons sneered in agreement._

_"Yeah well, forgive me for not being overly enthusiastic about the whole kneeling before him thing. The truth is…" Dante paused to swipe at a demon but it dodged easily. "You're not going to defeat me and I don't care how powerful your new master is, I'm going to go kick his ass next."_

_"Believe what you will demon hunter, your overconfidence will be your downfall." At some unseen signal all the demons suddenly charged at Dante, their attacks carefully co-ordinated so that whenever Dante was open for attack a demons scythe would already be half-way into his skin. _

_After five minutes of dodging Rebellion and slicing through skin the demons retreated back into a circle pacing around the demon hunter. Dante was covered in bone deep cuts bleeding freely onto the wooden floor. He glanced round at the demons as he healed. They laughed pointedly at his wounds whilst still circling him and Dante noticed that not one of them had been scathed. Either they healed fast like him, or they had dodged all of his attacks. He frowned. This was not good. _

_Pulling one gun out of its holster and levelling it at the leader's head Dante swung Rebellion again warning them to keep back. The abyss demons didn't seem fazed at all, if anything they looked amused. Then without warning the demons charged again. __Simultaneously firing Ebony and swinging his sword, Dante spun round lashing out at all of them. However, the demons seemed to have anticipated this attack and one demon dropped to the floor using his scythe to knock Dante off of his feet. Trying to use his own momentum to escape the killing circle Dante flipped over the demons heads. But as soon as he landed the demons were surrounding him again. _

_T__hey didn't hesitate and charged forwards, gradually wearing down Dante's defences. After what seemed an age they pulled back and observed the demon hunter lying face down in a pool of blood with obvious contempt. Dante pulled himself slowly to his feet and wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. His skin started to knit back together again but slower than before._

_"Is that all you've got demon hunter?" The leader mocked._

"No, I like lying in my own blood!" Dante replied sarcastically. The leader examined his scythe for a moment before returning his arrogant gaze back to the demon hunter in front of him.

"If you beg us for mercy now, we might make it less painful for you. Might…"

"Phantom…" A cold voice echoed around the throne room. The demonic spider shuddered and raised his head gingerly to meet the icy fury that was his master's gaze.

"Yes master?" Phantom almost whispered, unnerved by the emotionless expression on his master's face. He was especially unpredictable in the state that he was in. Moments passed in silence.

"Why did you fail?" The voice was quiet, dangerous. Phantom swallowed unable to answer. "Are you naturally that weak? Or do think that because I'm your ruler now you feel no need to accomplish anything I order you to do?" The spider tensed and hastily tried to clear his name.

"No master, I…"

"You don't work for Mundus anymore Phantom." The voice interrupted still deadly quiet. "I defeated him. Do you know what he did before I killed him?" Phantom shook his head nervously as the imposing figure ran two fingers along the blade of his sword.

"He fell to his knees and begged me to spare him. He knelt before me pleading that I take him as a servant or to torture him as I liked if only I would let him continue his pitiful existence." The figure smiled at the memory and Phantom dared not move. "Mundus, the Lord of the demonic realm. He was as pathetic as the humans that he so scorned." The figure turned his attention back to the demon cowering before him the smile gone. "If the great Mundus couldn't defeat me…why do you feel that you can disobey me and get away with it?"

"I…I didn't do it in-intentionally master. The gate-gatekeepers were harder than I…"

"You insult me with your feeble excuses." The figure stated calmly. "Obviously I overestimated you Phantom. I have no need for your services now if that's the best you can do..."

"I-I'm sorry master, I will try harder next time…" Phantom stammered. His master hissed.

"So you weren't trying your best before?"

"I…no that's not what …I simply meant that…" Phantom trailed off as the figure got up from his throne and started to walk towards him. "Master I…please…I meant that…" Suddenly a loud knock on the double doors at the side of the hall silenced the spider. They swung open and the eight elite abyss demons walked in. They bowed to their master, ignoring Phantom completely.

"Master," The leading demon said straightening up, "I have news on the demon hunter." The figure sat back on the throne and waved a hand at Phantom, indicating that he should leave. Gratefully the spider scuttled out of the room but before he could close the doors behind him a voice echoed around the hall.

"Do not fail me again." Phantom shuddered and hurried to escape their imposing ruler.  
As soon as the doors were shut the other demons stood up and the leader started to speak.  
"The demon hunter is still defiant despite increased amounts of torture. He still refuses to acknowledge authority and threats don't have any effect. In short, he isn't breaking easily." The figure on the throne remained expressionless.

"So what do you suggest to do?"

"We feel that if he were to be brought before you anyway that might encourage him to be…ah…more co-operative." The master nodded thoughtfully.

"Perhaps. Bring him to me." The demons bowed once again and walked out, leaving the hall eerily silent.

_"Where am I?" Dante murmured to nothingness. Or so he thought._

_"So you're awake at last demon hunter. I was beginning to think that we had killed you. Our master told us you were tough but obviously he overestimated you." Dante stiffened at the sound of the abyss leader's voice. It was hard to hear as if he was still semi-conscious._

_"I'll show you just how tough I am!" Dante threatened as he pulled himself to his feet. Looking around him he realised that he was in a cell; three concrete walls and bars on one side._

_"Really? How do you expect to get out of there?" The demon was on the other side of the bars looking incredibly smug. Dante reached for his handguns but groaned inwardly when he found them gone. Rebellion too, was also missing from his back. The demon noticed his expression and grinned. _

_"Unfortunately we had to take your little toys away. We couldn't have you hurting yourself, could we now?" Dante suddenly realised why he couldn't hear properly. Screams of pain rang over one another from all directions. The level of noise was almost deafening._

_"Where the hell am I?" He demanded, glaring at the demon who frowned._

_"You're in a torture chamber." The demon stated obviously._

_"I guessed that, but where?" Dante growled. The demon bared his teeth but replaced it with his smug grin._

_"If I were you I'd be nicer to me, especially since I'm the demon in charge of torture here. If you were to…say…be what I would think of as being disrespectful, then you might find yourself in a lot more pain than I've been ordered to put you through." The abyss leader laughed as Dante ground his teeth together. _

_When he left Dante reached out for the bars and gave them a swift tug. But they didn't move. He hadn't really expected them to. Dante sighed and sank down to the ground. He jumped up again immediately when he realised it was stained with blood. 'This is great, bloody great.' He thought._

"Get up." A harsh voice snapped. Dante looked up from where he was slumped against the cell wall at the abyss leader. It twirled its scythe impatiently. "Are you deaf? I told you to get up!"

"You think I'm going to hurry to get tortured? Then you're dumber than you look." Dante retorted and looked down even though his entire body ached from previous attempts to defy the demons. The abyss leader snarled but this time he stayed his scythe. Instead he wrung an imaginary (human) neck.

"You're not being tortured today unfortunately, but that could change if you persist in insulting me." Dante looked up again puzzled. "You heard me demon hunter. You're going to be bought before the master instead. Not that that's any consolation. You might prefer being tortured." Dante snorted.

"And miss the chance to tell this 'master' exactly what I think of him? Right... When you told me about him before, didn't you say broken and bleeding form? I'm bleeding yeah, but I'm NOT broken."

"That could be arranged if you don't get up right now." The demon snarled unlocking the cell door.  
"Fine, fine…" Dante muttered and dragged himself to his feet. Two other abyss demons pushed him out of the cell roughly and forced him to start marching up the corridor. Looking around, Dante saw humans and demons alike in the same sort of cells that he had been in.

Many of them fell to their knees as the demons passed and pleaded for freedom or, those who were in intense pain, begged for a swift death. Screams yelled in torment from either side, Dante tried to block out the voices and silently vowed that he would put a stop to this. But the little voice in his head, usually one that Dante ignored, told him that with demons like the so called 'elite' even getting out would be difficult, let alone defeating them and their master.

Shortly Dante and his escort exited the cell corridor. The silence hit him like Leviathan plummeting to the ground. It was so different from the shrieks of anguish that had deafened him for days. Other demons stepped respectfully out of their way as the group made their way through what seemed to be a huge castle. The demons sneered at him triumphantly as they passed. Dante knew what they were thinking and scowled. It didn't help that many of them were telepathic. 'How the mighty have fallen…' 'This is the demon hunter who once threatened us?' 'Pathetic…'.

Soon they reached a set of double doors. Dante noticed that other demons in the castle stayed away from this floor as much as possible. The leader knocked sharply on the metal panelling and opened the door without waiting for an answer. The demons shoved him in and before Dante could catch a glimpse of who/what was seated on the throne he was forced to his knees on the cold stone floor. He tried to rise but a warning scythe was placed at the back of Dante's neck keeping him in a kneeling position.

"Master, we bring you the demon hunter to kneel before…" The leader was interrupted as Dante dodged under the scythe and stood upright facing the throne. Dante looked up and was nearly knocked backwards in shock. Wearing the long blue coat he always wore and with Yamato at his side was his brother. He was the leader of these demons?

"Vergil?" He asked staring disbelievingly at his twin who didn't move. If Vergil really was the leader then things could get very complicated, very fast. The lead abyss demon cuffed him round the head, sending him sprawling to the side of the large hall and into the wall.

"That's master or Lord Vergil to you, scum" The demon snarled. Dante didn't move he just blinked, unwilling to accept that his brother was the ruler of the demon world.

"I thought you were dead…" Dante said climbing slowly to his feet. Vergil upper lip twisted in a sneer of contempt but he made no comment.

"What happened? You fell off the waterfall but then…" Realisation struck Dante. _'Mundus has been dead for months. We have a new ruler. He's much more powerful than Mundus ever was…' _"You killed Mundus?" Dante asked and walked back into the middle of the hall.

"Yes." The cold figure finally spoke.

"How? You lost against me; you couldn't have defeated Mundus in that weakened state…"

"That's none of your concern."

"It's none of my concern? Vergil, you couldn't even defeat me so how the hell did you manage to kill Mundus?" Dante shouted, getting angry with his brothers short, to the point answers. The leading abyss demon leapt forward and cut open Dante's skin from the top of his shoulder to the base of his spine. Dante grimaced as he fell forwards. The demon hissed in his ear.

"You'll show more respect or I'll make you."

"Oh yeah? How will you make me?" He challenged as he started to get up. The demon placed a foot on the back of Dante's head and leant forwards, forcing him to prostrate on the ground. Dante tried to move but the abyss leader kept him pinned in place. "Point taken." He muttered.

"You call him either Master or Lord Vergil. Do you understand?" The demon transferred more weight onto his foot until Dante was sure the stones were imprinted on his forehead.

"Yeah, whatever, just get off me!" Vergil smirked watching his brother squirm under his servant's foot. The demons were right, Dante wasn't broken easily, but he would be.

"Ask the master to let you up," The demon commanded, "or you'll be on ther floor for a long time." Dante struggled to throw the demons foot off his head but failed miserably. He stopped resisting when the scythe blade was pressed painfully to the base of his spine.

"Let me up." Dante muttered. "Let me up, Vergil." He said louder when the leader didn't move.

"You have to address him properly and ask, not tell him to let you up." The other demons laughed.

"No way am I doing that!" Dante cried indignantly and resumed his effort to remove the foot.

"Looks like you're staying there then." The demon twirled his scythe and whistled, much to the amusement of the rest of the elite. Dante muttered obscenities under his breath and gave up trying to move the foot at his head. As much as he hated lying like this before his brother, there was no way he was going to grovel to him. He cursed again as the foot at his head pushed harder.

"Bloody hell." He spat.

"What was that?" The demon asked innocently, smirking and stopped twirling his scythe. "I thought you liked bowing before the master since you aren't even bothering to struggle." Dante growled. "Oh, did you count that pathetic display as a struggle? Looks like our standards are too high for you."

"We took him down without taking a hit." The demons joined in.

"Demon hunters aren't what they used to be." Another added, glaring at Dante in disgust.

"Get off me, bastard!" Dante shouted, interrupting the insults and tried to get up yet again.

"Tsk, tsk. You should show more respect to your superiors." The leader mocked still smirking. He prodded the slow-healing cut on Dante's back with his scythe making Dante wince in pain. "You aren't healing as well as you should do. Want to know why?" The demon asked. When Dante didn't answer he carried on. "Well, while you were unconscious we injected a poison into your blood that stops your demon powers from reawakening. You might have wondered why you couldn't use devil trigger." Dante scowled.

"It also gradually stops your healing process. In a few days you won't be able to heal at all. You get hurt, you stay hurt. So really it's only logical that you obey us before you get potentially fatal injuries." Dante frowned. The demon talked too much. He was surprised that Vergil put up with something that talked as much as he, himself did. One part of the lecture did sink in though. If he couldn't heal, how was he supposed to get out of here? The demon prodded the cut again and Dante took a deep breath. This was going to hurt.

"Get stuffed Vergil. I'm not going to say it and you can tell your dumb servant to…." Dante almost cried out in pain as seven scythes ripped through his skin like knives through paper, leaving gaping holes in his sides. Blood spilled out onto the floor as the wounds started to close but very slowly.

"Big mistake…" The elite leader hissed all traces of amusement gone from his voice. It transferred the scythe to Dante's neck. "Say it."

"Hell no, I …." Dante was cut off when the blade dug deep into the back of his neck.

"Say it. I won't tell you a third time."  
"No." 'God this demon sounds like Vergil' Dante thought.

"Then," the demon snarled. "You will suffer." The foot at Dante's head suddenly withdrew and the eight elite demons stepped back. Struggling Dante pulled himself to his feet, flinching at the pain the still open wounds caused. Vergil smiled as he watched his twin raise his head defiantly.

"Dante, why do you resist? Your fate is inevitable. I have already taken over the demon world and the human one is next. But you..." Vergil paused and ran a hand along the hilt of his sword. "You can choose. You can either serve me as I rule the two worlds or you can die."

"It's not going to happen, Vergil." Dante snarled ignoring the pain.

"There is no third option. You can't defeat me and you won't escape."

"You think so?" Dante wavered slightly, unsteady on his feet.

"Well, since you can barely stand upright and you soon won't be able to heal, I'm confident that there is no chance of you escaping and even less of you defeating me. But would serving me really be that bad?" Vergil smiled. "Who knows? If you were a good servant then maybe you'd be rewarded…"

"Get real Vergil. I'm going to put a stop to your delusions just like all the other times." Dante folded his arms.

"Ah, but I've got much stronger since then."

"So have I." Dante retorted. Vergil sneered as the abyss demons sniggered.

"I sincerely doubt that. You're going to try and defeat me?"

"Try? I _will_ defeat you." Dante stopped himself from grimacing as a wound throbbed painfully. Vergil got up from his throne and started to walk down the steps towards Dante. He stopped mere inches away.

"Come on then." Vergil sneered as Dante tried to raise himself to his full height.

"Now?" Dante looked at the katana. "It's hardly fair though is it? I mean, you've only got one weapon and I'm still conscious." Vergil rolled his eyes. "But seriously Vergil. Where's the fun in fighting me when I'm already exhausted, wounded and weapon-less? I thought you at least would give me time to recover to make the match worthwhile." Vergil looked at Dante's wounds and slumped shoulders.

"I suppose." He said slowly. "You have one day, then we'll fight even if you're not ready."

"Fine, and if I win you have to let me go and give up your stupid attempt to be overlord." Dante grinned as Vergil raised an eyebrow.

"I have to, do I? Very well; when I win you _have to _be my servant."

"It's a deal." Dante paused. Vergil seemed more powerful than before and he said that he'd defeated Mundus. Maybe agreeing to this wasn't such a good idea. After all he still had the poison in his blood, meaning that he couldn't heal or devil trigger.

"Take him away. No-one harms him until after the battle tomorrow, unless he's trying to run away like the coward he is." The abyss demons nodded reluctantly and they pushed Dante out of the doors.


	2. Chapter 2

The chapter is much shorter than the other one because I keep thinking of ideas to happen later in the story. It isn't as good as some of the things I've written so could you review to leave pointersas to where I'm going wrong?

Disclaimer: I don't own devil may cry.

The next day came far too quickly in Dante's opinion. One moment he'd been trying to fall asleep amongst the screams around his cell and the next thing he knew the demons were coming to collect him for the battle. In fact, he didn't think he'd healed at all. The cell door swung open as Dante got up.

The abyss elite demon prodded him forwards along the darkened corridor and he silently told the cries on either side of him that he would release them from their agony, one way or another. They led him through the castle again but this time Dante noticed that there were no other demons on the other levels. Perhaps there was some sort of fighting going on somewhere in the demon world.

Dante's breath caught in his throat. Or perhaps they were fighting in the human world. Damn it. How long had he been in that cell? He hadn't given a thought as to what was happening in the human world as a result of his capture.

At last they reached the double doors leading to the great hall. As they entered Dante looked up at the throne and wasn't surprised to see Vergil smirking slightly. He got up and took Dante's weapons from a demon next to him. The demon gave a short bow and left along with the abyss demon behind Dante.

Dante scowled as Vergil held out his sword and guns. He made to grab them but his twin drew back still smirking.

"Decide on rules." He said.

"Fine." Dante spat. "No devil triggering since I can't and no demon power, just swords." Vergil smiled.

"Is that wise considering my skill with the blade?" He asked innocently. "Very well. We keep fighting until the other surrenders. The words you must say are 'I submit'. If your opponent refuses to give in then you can kill them. No orbs are to be used either. Understand?" Dante nodded briefly and took his weapons.

They both backed away a couple of metres. Dante slung his guns through the holster and held Rebellion ready. Vergil inclined his head and unsheathed his katana. "Begin." He hissed and they leapt forward.

Some time later…

Dante dodged under Yamato's blade and stepped back hastily. Vergil was much better than he had been the last time they'd fought. Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea. Really, it was no wonder that Mundus had lost, he was having trouble blocking his brother's attacks, let alone launch some of his own.

He bought Rebellion up to protect himself from another onslaught and fired Ebony rapidly at Vergil. It wouldn't hurt his twin and it certainly wouldn't stop him, but it could be useful as a distraction. No such luck. Vergil completely ignored the bullets sinking into his frame and Yamato began a downward sweep towards his head.

Rolling to the side Dante lashed out with Rebellion, but Vergil had already moved. The attacks kept coming, leaving no room for Dante to get his bearings. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he was being backed towards a wall.

Thinking quickly, Dante somersaulted over Vergil's head and away from the wall, ignoring the pain as Yamato nicked his ankle. Several minutes later, Dante was covered in cuts that were barely healing. As he was forced to block the blade again and again, he was slowly being worn down.

As he got more exhausted, his reaction times slowed, giving Vergil more opportunities to slice through his brother's flesh. His blood was starting to coat the floor and Vergil didn't even look tired. Dante winced as Yamato cut into his side once again. He couldn't keep this up. It looked as if Vergil was going to win this time.

_No!_ The voice in his head screamed at him. _You mustn't think that! You can't let him beat you! If you're defeated what chance will the humans stand against the demons? NONE! You can't afford to lose this battle._

"Sheesh." Dante muttered under his breath. "No pressure or anything…"Vergil looked at him strangely.

"What was that?" He asked sweeping the katana in front of him.

"Oh nothing." Dante replied blocking the sword and tried to get his breath back. Vergil grinned.

"I thought you said that you were surrendering."

"Surrendering to you?" Dante snorted, trying to hide the fact that he was struggling. "You wish. I was just talking to the voices in my head, that's all." Something flitted across Vergil's face for a brief moment, something similar to surprise.

Before Dante could say anything else he was forced to dodge yet again as his twin's sword hissed through the air, inches away from his throat. Vergil was scowling deeply as he resumed his attack. Dante tried to concentrate but the amount of blood he had lost was making him feel faint. He was half demon! He must have lost a hell of a lot for it to be affecting him.

Dante's foot slipped and for a second he was unprotected. A second was all Vergil needed. Sensing victory he dived forward, slicing through his twin's skin faster than before. Dante was overwhelmed. He tried to lift Rebellion to block but it was just knocked away. Vergil kept attacking until Dante fell to his knees, unable to get up, sword trailing limply in his hand.

Vergil stopped and looked down at the former demon hunter's battered form. He raised Yamato to point at his neck. Feeling the deathly cold metal against his skin Dante lifted his head to meet his twin's gaze. Nothing was said for several moments.

"Well?" Vergil asked eventually. Dante didn't reply, willing himself to get back on his feet. Apparently his body was betraying him, because his legs didn't respond. He swore silently and tried to prop himself up using his sword. Vergil kicked it out of his hand and glared at him impatiently. "Give in."

Numbly Dante shook his head, struggling to stay upright. "Hell…no." He gasped. Vergil sneered and drove the blade through his twin's ribs. Dante started to choke as the edge pierced his lungs. He gripped the sword in one hand, the other dangling useless at his side where Vergil had kicked it. His brother withdrew Yamato and he fell backwards into a painful heap.

"Give it up Dante." Vergil sighed. "You can't defeat me like this. If you don't surrender then I'll have to kill you." Dante stared blankly up at the halls engraved ceiling.

"Then end it." He whispered. Vergil blinked once. Was he really hearing what he thought he was hearing?

"End it?" Vergil repeated, puzzled. "You'd rather die than submit to me?"

"Don't flatter yourself." Dante muttered between breaths laced with agony. "I'd rather be dead than anyone's fucking slave."

"And what of the humans?" Vergil asked, calmly voicing his brother's earlier thoughts. "With you gone who would protect them?" Dante didn't reply. He hadn't answered that question yet himself.

"They'll manage without me." He finally responded hesitantly. "They're a lot stronger than you think, _Vergil._" A stab of pain shot up through his body, making him cry out. Dante took several laboured breaths and closed his eyes. Vergil looked down contemptuously.

"You think that humans could defeat me when you couldn't? Dante, don't be stupid." Vergil watched his brother struggle to breathe through blood filled lungs. He flicked the blood off his sword and was just about to sheath it when he noticed something. Dante chest had stopped moving, he wasn't breathing.

Please review?


	3. Chapter 3

Well, I've written the next chapter sooooo... I hope you like it. Thanks to all who reviewed.

Disclaimer: I don't own devil may cry.

The first impression he got was white. White hot light burned his eyes so much that he had to close them. Dante frowned inwardly. He had expected the afterlife to be much darker. Or maybe he was in Heaven? Ha. He didn't think Heaven existed but if it did he was pretty sure that God wouldn't want a half-demon running around the Pearly Gates. Hell then? Nope, not that either. He'd already been to Hell more times than he could count and it was certainly never bright enough to hurt his eyes.

A thought struck Dante. If such things as Heaven and Hell _did _exist then he was screwed. There was no chance of him getting into Heaven, even though the only things he killed were demons. Purgatory? Possibly, but he was half-demon, if he was heading anywhere, it was Hell. And who else was in Hell? All the demons he'd ever killed. Oh, just great.

Faintly Dante became aware that the pain in his eyes wasn't in fact, in his eyes. The irritation he was feeling was instead coming from his chest, or more accurately, his lungs. Strange, Dante mused. He didn't think that light could hurt his insides…

The pain was getting stronger now. Not fair, Dante thought bitterly. You weren't supposed to feel pain after you died. Come to think of it, he shouldn't be feeling anything at all. The pain restricted his lungs, making it harder for him to breathe. Damn, he thought. It almost hurt as much as when Vergil had run him through with his sword. Vergil…

The memories came back at once and Dante shot awake, breathing heavily. He wasn't dead. He was lying on a four-poster bed in a large room with intricate engravings along each wall. A window at the far end of the room was letting in strong rays of the demon sun. That was what had been the white hot light in his dream. But where was he?

Glancing down, Dante realised that his bloodied red trench coat was gone and someone had bandaged the wound in his chest. It hurt slightly whenever he moved but the pain was bearable. He tentatively moved his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand up. He fell back down almost immediately as his chest throbbed agonisingly. He snarled in frustration and something stirred on the other side of the room.

Dante looked up at the noise and noticed what he had failed to observe before. His twin was slumped in an armchair on the other side of the room. Vergil was looking paler than ever, his brow furrowed in what looked like concern. Dante's eyes widened as he realised where he was. He was still in the demon castle. He needed to get out before Vergil woke up.

Once more Dante tried to get up and this time managed to step forwards. He stopped when he felt the skin around the gash in his chest split apart with a sickening tearing noise. Dante swayed slightly and bought a hand up to feel the bandage. His fingers came away moist with blood.

"You should be resting." A familiar voice came from the armchair. Dante glanced over to see Vergil wide awake and looking very amused.

"I'm fine." He ground out and took another step towards the door.

"You won't get far before you pass out." Vergil commented and stood up. Dante tried to shrug, taking yet another step forward. His lungs burned ferociously and his vision was starting to darken at the edges so he stopped. He could feel himself starting to topple over but just as Dante braced himself to hit the floor a hand stopped him. He looked up.

"Although I'm sure you're not trying to, falling would undo all the hard work I've done." Vergil smirked. Dante looked down at the bandages wrapped tightly around his bare torso and put two and two together. He hissed violently and backed away from his brother. His legs crashed into the bed and he sat down heavily.

Vergil walked closer, still smirking. "That's the way you repay me? I saved your life."

"Don't ever touch me again." Dante spat. "I'd rather _die_ than have to be your slave, remember?" Vergil paused, the grin fading from his face.

"Do you still want to die?" He asked quietly. Dante put his head in his hands and Vergil looked at him for a moment. "Get some rest. You'll need it if we're to continue our match tomorrow."

"No." Dante said as Vergil turned to leave. "You won and I haven't given in. Do you remember the rules?"

Vergil stopped but didn't turn around. "I'll come back later." He said before he left. Dante flopped back onto the bed and sighed, ignoring the pain in his ribs. Well, this was fantastic. He couldn't move further than three steps without falling over and was stuck in Vergil's private quarters. He must have some seriously bad karma to have had this happen to him.

He glared at the door Vergil had left through as if it were its fault. Why was this happening to him? He sighed again and prodded the wound in his chest. As soon as it healed he was out of here.

The hours passed and Dante found his mind wandering to the human world. What had happened since he disappeared? It couldn't have been taken over yet; Vergil would have been gloating over him if it had been. Maybe the demons were just preparing for an invasion, at least he hoped so. It would be much easier to stop an invasion from happening than deal with one after it had happened.

A noise outside the door dragged Dante out of his thoughts. Vergil was shouting about something. He couldn't make out the words because most of it was in demon but his brother sounded extremely angry. Dante almost grinned. It was funny when Vergil got angry, he was usually so composed.

He didn't want to die and, though he hated to admit it, Vergil was right. The humans would surely lose if he wasn't there to protect them. The only options seemed to be either escaping or to go along with Vergil's idea. Escaping, which was unlikely to say the least, would do no good. Vergil was much stronger than him at the moment and he would just be re-captured. That was supposing he managed to get out alive in the first place.

Dante grimaced. That just left surrendering. For the sake of the humans he would have to swallow his pride and do whatever his twin told him to. But as Vergil's….slave… he would be in a position to influence his brother's decisions. Maybe he could persuade him that he didn't need to take over everything, to leave the humans alone. Dante nearly laughed, if he believed that then he'd believe anything. There was no way he could persuade Vergil to do anything he didn't want to, least of all making him ignore the human world. But he had to try.

The shouting outside the door had stopped and everything was silent once more. Dante closed his eyes and started humming a random tune. He hated silence. He tapped his fingers against the dried blood on the bandage. Why hadn't Vergil killed him? Maybe he didn't want him to die?

Dante did laugh out loud at that thought, although the action made his chest hurt. No, the only possible reason why Vergil was keeping him alive was so that he would have another servant to grovel before him. That was all. He was deluding himself if he thought it was for any other reason. But when he had woken up, Vergil had looked concerned.

Probably didn't want a possible slave to die. Dante scowled. He hated Vergil so much right now. Hell, he hated himself for even thinking about going along with this. But there was no other option. He had to do this for the humans. They had better be grateful…

Please review? Reviews inspire me.


	4. Chapter 4

I got a mental block half-way through this chapter and couldn't think how to write it. I had to wait a few days for it to come back to me. But even so, I'm not pleased with it.

Disclaimer: I don't own devil may cry.

Vergil glared at the pile of dust on the floor that moments ago had been a demon. The moron had tried to sneak past him into his private rooms. Yet another failed attempt to get revenge on a son of Sparda. Somehow all the demons thought that it was their right to kill Dante because of what their father had done all those years ago. Foolish.

He sheathed his sword. It had been happening more recently, demons would try to get to his brother in the hope to defeat him when he was injured. It had only occurred occasionally when he had been torturing Dante but now that his twin was resting in his private quarters it was almost hourly. Perhaps they thought he'd gone soft.

Vergil swore under his breath. Truly, he didn't know why he had used the gold orb on Dante, why he had helped him to start healing again. There was no way that by sparing his brother he could possibly benefit. He set wards around the room to keep the demons out and Dante in, not that his twin was going anywhere, and turned on his heel, walking down the empty corridor. He was late.

Pushing open the double doors of the demon chapel Vergil strode into the middle of the floor. The few demons in there looked up as he entered and at a glance from him left silently. He closed his eyes as the doors swung shut behind him. Mundus had built the chapel into the castle as a mockery of the humans. Grotesque carvings of creatures writhing in agony adorned the walls and stained glass windows reflected the soon-to-be suffering of the human race.

Vergil extended his demon senses to cover the entirety of the chapel, searching for anyone hoping to eavesdrop. He couldn't find anything. He was alone once more. Vergil opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Taking one last look around him, he dropped onto one knee and cleared his mind. The light in the chapel dimmed almost imperceptibly.

A voice hissed like wind through the pillars of the hall, the words barely distinguishable. Vergil clenched his teeth and waited. Eventually the noise died down and he felt a link open.

"Vergil…" The voice echoed in his mind. The elder son of Sparda inclined his head briefly, the voice didn't sound particularly pleased with him.

"Dante is still alive." It stated, silently demanding an explanation.

"Yes." Vergil replied. What else could he say?

"Do you not remember me ordering you to kill him? Alive, he poses a threat."

"I do remember."

"So you have deliberately disobeyed me?" The voice snarled. "I gave you the power that you hold so dear, Vergil, and I can take it away again just as easily. You owe me."

"I do." Vergil scowled. "But I am no-one's servant." The voice laughed.

"Vergil…" It began. "I think you're suffering from, what do the humans call it? Amnesia? Can you not recall the first time I spoke to you? Humiliated, degraded and pathetically weak, you had been defeated, easily I might add, by Mundus. You were forced to serve him."

"Enough!" Vergil snapped. "I don't want to hear this!"

"But little half-blood, I think you need to be reminded of your place." The voice seemed to be smirking. "I rescued you from your own personal hell and you won't do as I ask? Do you want to be in that situation again?" Vergil closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"No." He mumbled.

"You will be if you disobey me again. I can take away your power and leave you to the demons. I'm sure you've made quite a few enemies during your reign." The voice paused to let it sink in.

Vergil frowned. Some of the demons hadn't taken too kindly to being ordered around by a half-breed, let alone Sparda's son. He'd had to gain their loyalty by force. Many, if not, all of them would jump at the chance to make him suffer.

"So, kill Dante" the voice continued, "and I'll forget all about your moment of weakness and grant you what you have yearned for. But fail…" The voice trailed off warningly. Vergil nodded reluctantly and opened his eyes as he felt the link in his head close. Numbly he turned around and pushed open the doors.

Dante started as he heard muttering outside the room. The door glowed red for a moment before it swung open and his brother walked in. Dante shifted uncomfortably, this was going to be awkward. Vergil turned to face him and put a hand on Yamato's hilt. Oh, right. Vergil still thought he wanted to die.

"Uh…" Dante began. "Vergil, I've kind of changed my mind about that. You won so…Yeah…I..."

Vergil unsheathed his sword and walked slowly forwards watching Dante's eyes widen. "Vergil?" He asked hesitantly. "What are you doing?" Vergil gave no reply, instead pointing Yamato at him. Dante swung his legs over the opposite side of the bed and got up. It didn't hurt so his wound must've healed. Turning around to face his silent brother, Dante swallowed.

"Vergil, I thought about it and you're right. The humans won't last long without me, so I thought we could cut a deal?" Dante backed away as Vergil walked around the bed. "You know, you leave the human world alone and I work for you for half a year? That kind of thing?"

Vergil just looked at him. "Or, maybe not." Dante shrugged nervously and walked backwards again, avoiding Yamato's tip. His twin moved closer and Dante crashed into the wall, realising he was trapped. "Fuck." He muttered as the sword pressed against his throat. Dante cleared his throat and spoke more clearly. "I submit, Vergil."

He fought the urge to let out a sigh of relief as Vergil paused. His grip on Yamato slackened and the blade lowered. A strange expression crossed his face but before Dante could recognise it, it changed to anger.

Vergil growled in frustration and threw his sword across the room where it lodged in the wall. Kicking over a table, Vergil strode furiously across the room, dropping his sheath along the way. When he reached windows he tugged them open violently and walked out onto the balcony and out of sight.

Dante could only stare. Okay… His brother had gone mad.

Um...Review?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own devil may cry.

Vergil felt like throwing himself off the balcony. How could he have been so stupid? He had to kill Dante, his future depended on it. But why hadn't he been able to? He had trained himself all his life to be ruthless when it was needed, yet he had faltered when it came to his brother.

He berated himself silently. He could kill without a shard of remorse, torture humans and demons until they screamed for death, be cold and indifferent to their pleas for mercy and yet… One look from his twin and all of that had gone.

Vergil scowled. He blamed his human half. Human emotions made him weak, and if he wanted to keep his own life he needed to be much stronger. He had to kill Dante before his next audience in the chapel in a week's time.

Sighing, he reached up and ran a hand through his spiked back hair. He had plenty of time to kill his brother; he needn't do it right now. He leaned against the railings and looked out across the demon world. But if he couldn't do it now, he might not be able to kill Dante when the time came…

No. He hurriedly forced the troubling thought to the back of his mind. Of course he would be able to. Wasn't his life being in danger motivation enough? Dante had been a constant pain in his side since they'd been born; being the favourite of their parents, mocking him when no-one else had dared to, defying him on Temen-Ni-Gru and now… Now Dante was the only thing standing between him and absolute power.

Vergil glared at the sun sinking below the horizon. He had every reason to kill Dante, he was in his way and he needed to be disposed of. But Dante was his brother; could he really kill his twin just for power? Vergil nearly choked. This was a great time to be developing a conscience.

Of course he would kill Dante to get what he wanted; there was no question about it. But whether he actually could when the time came was a different matter. Damn his mixed blood…

---

Dante glanced outside. Vergil didn't look like he was going to be coming back any time soon. This was the chance he'd been waiting for. His brother hadn't bothered to put the wards around the door back up so the way was open. Cautiously, Dante crossed the floor and pulled Yamato out of the wall. He walked up to the door and twisted the handle, listening intently for movement on the balcony, but he heard nothing.

Gently he opened the door and exited into the corridor. Making a split second decision he chose the left hand fork, it seemed to be the right way to go. Everything was quiet as Dante hesitantly walked down the corridors. No demons. That was probably a good thing. As he approached the doors at the end of the hallway he could hear slight muttering, getting slowly louder.

Dante scowled and looked for somewhere to hide. It wasn't that he was scared or unable; it was just that if he had to fight the demons, the noise would alert Vergil to the fact he'd escaped. Having nowhere better to conceal himself, Dante tried to merge with the shadowed walls.

Tensely he waited for the demons to pass, but the door didn't open. Instead the voices grew loud and then faded away. When he was certain that they had gone, Dante cracked the door open slightly, holding Yamato ready.

What he saw confused him. Why the hell was there a chapel in the middle of the castle? A couple of demons were leaving through another door, but apart from that, the room was empty. Dante entered slowly, making sure that they had gone. He looked up at the gilded ceiling. Strange. He didn't think Vergil was religious.

The sound of wind passing through the pillars of the chapel shifted his attention back down to his present situation. But although he tried, Dante couldn't find what had caused the noise and the stained glass windows were closed. Slightly suspicious now, Dante moved to the other side of the chapel and tried the door the demons had exited through.

It was locked. From what Dante could tell from the little he knew about the demon language, the symbols patterned over the door were telling him that he needed to use demonic power to get through. He frowned. The injection the demons had given him prevented him from using devil trigger, which was obviously what the door needed to open.

Turning around, Dante was just about to leave and try the other end of the corridor when he felt something strange. It was like a compulsion to stay, but somehow an urge to run at the same time. He glanced around the chapel to make sure that he _was_ completely alone.

The rest of the room was deserted, he was the only one there, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something else was present. Thoroughly spooked, Dante was about to walk over to the door he had entered through, when he suddenly noticed something on a table under the arched windows. The table seemed to be some sort of altar and on it were glass cups filled with a strange substance.

Compelled to investigate, Dante reached the table and found more of what he supposed were offerings. One of the cups contents was swirling by itself. He lifted the glass up, tilting his head to look at it more closely and was disgusted to find that it was blood. He put it back down on the table and tried to move away.

He was surprised to find that he couldn't. He was moving closer to the altar and inclining his head to dip his tongue into the sweet, red-no! He mentally shook himself. What was he thinking? He didn't want to drink blood.

But he did, he wanted to feel someone's life source flow down this throat, to taste the nectar on his tongue. Dante pulled himself out of the trance yet again. What was happening to him? Hastily, he told himself that it was just lack of food and water for so long that was making him crave it. At least, he hoped it was.

With a great deal of effort Dante forced himself to take a step back and tear his gaze away from the blood rippling, hypnotically in the glass cup. He tried to take another step towards the door but then he felt himself mentally slipping aside. He saw his hand reach out to take the cup, his fingers curling around the rim and he was powerless to stop it…

Should I write longer chapters?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own devil may cry.

The swirling red mists darkened briefly as black clouds spread across the sky. A single drop of rain spiralled slowly towards the ground, narrowly avoiding the torn grey wings of the demons ruling the air over the castle. They screeched to one another, their language rough and coarse, to take shelter.

Vergil looked up at the noise and frowned, watching as a single glistening orb fell towards him. The rain dropped next to his hand, onto the balcony ledge and steam started to rise from the hole as it burnt through. The half-demon scowled. Even weather in the human world was better than this. Acid rain here could kill anything and everything if it stayed outside long enough.

Shaking his head, Vergil was forced to retreat as the storm started to get worse. He stepped inside his room and shut the glass door against the rain. The door was covered with several protection spells, as was the rest of the castle. The hole on the ledge of the balcony was already being repaired. Vergil turned around slowly, expecting his twin to try to knock him out or start shouting. However, he was faintly surprised when he couldn't see Dante anywhere.

Vergil mentally groaned as he realised what had happened. He hadn't re-locked the door behind him when he entered and a glance one of the walls confirmed his fears that Dante had managed to get his hands on a sword, _his _sword. Now his brother was loose in the castle with a weapon. Oh well, that was easily rectified. Telepathically he called his elite group of demons to search the castle. With them on the look out, Dante was bound to be discovered sooner or later. His brother wasn't exactly what you would call subtle and it wasn't as if he could go anywhere with the acid rain pouring down outside.

Smirking to himself, Vergil sat down in the armchair, waiting for Dante to be bought to him. His twin had a lot of explaining to do, pretending to give in and then sneaking off. Allowing his mind to drift, Vergil leant back against the back of the chair. He really needed to get more sleep. Controlling the demon world was harder than he had previously thought. Suddenly he sat up straight, eyes wide. What if Dante had found his way to the chapel by accident?

He rushed to the door and yanked it open, feeling his heart speeding up as he ran down the corridor. If the 'voice' found out that his brother was still alive and had managed to escape then he was as good as dead. So much for resting.

-

Dante tried to struggle against the hypnotising effects that the churning blood was having on his demon side, but it didn't work. He knew that it was a really bad idea to drink the contents of the glass and yet he still couldn't stop.

"What are you doing!?" A voice hissed behind him. Immediately Dante was back in control. He put the glass down and spun around to find that Vergil had come through the door. But strangely, for one reason or another, Vergil looked scared.

"I…" Dante trailed off, unable to think of an excuse. Damn. Now he was for it. There was no way his twin would believe him now if he surrendered, not after he had just been found trying to escape.

"Did you drink it?" Vergil demanded, his haunted eyes jumping from pillar to pillar. Dante followed his gaze, nothing was there. Yep, Vergil had definitely gone crazy. "Tell me, did you drink it?"

"No." Dante replied, failing to mention that he almost had. "I'm not stupid." His brother still wasn't looking at him but he had relaxed slightly. Well, maybe relaxed was too strong word, his eyes were still flickering around the room.

"Good." Vergil breathed and for a brief instant their eyes met. The blood on the table was a means for controlling the minds of the lesser demons, and although Vergil was sure that Dante's will was stronger than that, he didn't want the risk of his brother becoming a mindless zombie.

'_Why do you care?' _His own voice asked. He ignored it. Dante frowned at the ceiling, sure that something was moving. Another gust of wind blew through the pillars and Vergil tensed as a peculiar hissing noise whispered from the air around them. After a while the sound faded and Vergil relaxed once more, holding his hand out for Yamato. Dante hesitated, weighing up his options. His brother was weapon-less but with this new power Vergil claimed to have…who was to say that he couldn't defeat him without his sword? Vergil still had devil trigger after all.

Seeing Dante pause, Vergil frowned. If his brother intended on fighting him in the chapel, the noise might wake up the 'voice'. Then they'd both be dead. But to his relief Dante just shook his head and dropped Yamato to the floor. He kicked it across the marble tiles to his twin.

Vergil's mouth nearly dropped open. How dare he treat his precious weapon like that? Dante would suffer. Retrieving the katana from the dusty floor, Vergil remembered to call off the elites from searching the castle. He turned around and glanced over his shoulder at his brother who was shifting from one foot to the other nervously.

"So you lied to me?" He asked, allowing a smug grin to cross his face as he walked out of the chapel and back down the corridor. Dante followed, rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively.

"It wasn't like that." He began after a moment of hesitation.

"No? Bear in mind, Dante, that I hold your life in my hands. Lying isn't the best way to get on my good side." Vergil reached the door to his quarters and held it open for his brother. Dante paused, unwilling to turn his defenceless back to an armed Vergil.

"So what is the best way?" Dante asked, ignoring the glint in his twin's eye.

"Doing as you're told?" Vergil suggested. "Begging me not to punish you for being disobedient?"

Dante scowled. "Technically I haven't done anything wrong. You never told me not to try to escape, hell, you even left your sword where I could easily get at it." Rolling his eyes, Vergil walked into the room.

"I doubt that trying to escape qualifies as surrendering." He sat down in a chair, watching critically as his brother leant against the doorframe.

"You can't blame me for trying." Dante interjected, glaring at hell's new ruler.

"Where did you think you could go in this weather?" Vergil asked, smug in the knowledge that Dante knew next to nothing of the demon world. Sure enough, his twin gave him an incredulous look.

"It's just rain, Vergil." The eldest son raised an eyebrow.

"Then by all means, go ahead and leave." He motioned towards the window. Dante frowned at it suspiciously.

"You're going to let me go? Just like that?" Dante tilted his head to one side, thinking hard. "It's got to be a trick. I'm not leaving."

"No?" Smiling to himself, Vergil tapped a silent rhythm onto the side of the chair. "Then I order you to go outside." Dante hesitated.

"It's just rain, Dante."

---

"Damn it! Vergil let me back in!" Dante yelped as the rain got stronger. He was barely able to heal the burns that the acid was making on his skin. Pounding on the window that his twin was currently holding shut, Dante grimaced in pain.

Vergil laughed on the other side of the reinforced glass, amused at his brother's feeble attempts to break back through. "Say please."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Acid started to trickle down Dante's back. The triumphant grin that lit up his twin's features was almost scary.

"Getting revenge for Yamato." Dante ignored that remark and continued to try and break the glass. Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

"_Master." _Vergil paused as the leader of the elite demons called to him telepathically.

"_I thought I told you never to send me your thoughts unless it was urgent." _He snapped.

"_It is urgent. A group of rebels are breaking down the entrance to the castle." _Frowning, Vergil stepped away from the window, letting Dante burst through into the room. Now he thought about it, he could detect a presence outside the castle. How had he missed their approach?

Ignoring Dante's glare Vergil walked over to the door and yanked it open. "Stay here." He ordered and locked the door behind him.

Dante swore silently and poked the little holes in his arm. They were healing, but barely. Stupid brother, stupid demons, stupid weather, stupid sword…. He sighed and was about to collapse onto the bed when a sword suddenly pressed against his neck, drawing blood. A demon hissed behind him.

"Don't move."

---

I know I took too long to update but don't kill me!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own devil may cry.

"Don't move." The demon repeated, the blade at Dante's throat inching further into his skin. Dante tensed, trying to stop himself from instinctively pulling away as the creature behind him gripped his arm and hissed again.

"That wasn't very clever, leaving yourself unarmed when your castle's being attacked." It whispered and Dante could almost hear the sneer in its voice. But before he could speak, what the demon had said hit him. _His_ castle? This demon thought he was Vergil… Dante fought the urge to laugh. They may be identical twins but it didn't take a genius to work out which brother was which.

"You've got the wrong guy." He started to say, wincing as the demon's grip on his arm tightened, digging into the holes that the acid rain had burnt through his skin. "Vergil went off somewhere."

The demon paused, noticing the bandages around his captive's torso for the first time. Eventually, comprehension dawned and it snarled in frustration but instead of leaving to search for the new ruler of the demons it just stood there.

"In that case you're no use to me." It spat. "I may as well kill you anyway, half-breed." Dante scowled. That wasn't the response he'd been hoping for. (Un) subtly trying to pull away and roundhouse kick the demon into next week, Dante tried a change of subject.

"So, uh, why are you trying to kill Vergil?" He asked innocently. Maybe the demon would get so distracted by its own thoughts that he would have a chance to escape. The scaled hand holding the sword twitched slightly as the demon exhaled.

"It doesn't matter to you." It hissed. "Since you'll be dead in matter of seconds."

"Just humour me?" Dante suggested, eyes boring into the locked door that his brother had just left through. Although he hated to admit it, he wished that Vergil would come back soon. He didn't see how he was meant to fight off a demon with his bare hands…

Pausing, the aforementioned demon stiffened, eyes glazing over in remembrance. He wouldn't be tricked. Not again.

--

"_Loyal?" The new ruler repeated slowly, savouring the sound of the words leaving his lips. The demon named Trai nodded hesitantly, almost afraid of what would happen next. "You claim that you are loyal?"_

"_Yes, my Lord." He replied, the fear in his voice clear to all who could hear it. The figure on the throne smiled sinisterly and the demon had the sudden inexplicable feeling that he had walked into a trap._

"_You were loyal to Mundus." It wasn't a question. "And now you claim to be loyal to me? Switching masters so quickly isn't my idea of loyalty." The half-demon named Vergil got up and walked slowly down the steps._

"_I'm…I'm not sure I understand, my Lord." Trai stuttered, cursing his weakness._

"_Of course you don't." Hell's leader laughed darkly, crossing to stare out of the window covering one side of the hall. "Tell me, General. Why have you decided to forget your loyalty to your former master? Is it because you wish to stay on the winning side?"_

"_No…No I.." Trai cast around for something to say that could persuade Sparda's son that he would be an obedient servant, but could find nothing._

"_Apparently you were extremely loyal to Mundus. I see that as a threat." Vergil continued, smirking. He had to clean out all the demons from the castle who might oppose him if given the chance. The demons wouldn't take too kindly to being ordered around by the half human son of a traitor. He had to install discipline quickly._

"_Please my Lord, I'm no threat. You can rely on me…"_

"_Can I?" Vergil inquired softly, still looking out at the red expanse of sky, his eyes focusing on the winged demons protecting the castle from aerial attack. Slowly shaking his head, Hell's ruler turned around and fixed the demon cowering on the floor with a pointed stare._

"_I'm afraid I don't believe that, General. Unfortunately I have to do what I must to protect myself and this castle. That means…eliminating anyone I perceive as being a potential problem."_

_Trai swallowed hard, a movement that made Vergil smile when he saw it._

"_Killing you would serve no purpose though, since you haven't done anything wrong. Instead I'm sending you into exile. But if you come within a mile of this place, you'll live to regret it. Understood?"_

_Glad to be escaping with his life, the demon nodded furiously. Yet in the months to come, he would wonder whether being killed would have been a better fate._

--

Sudden movement bought the demon back to reality as the half demon in his grip tried to escape. Snarling, Trai jerked him back, bringing the sword he had accidentally lowered back into position at Dante's neck. Dante scowled. The stupid demon had chosen to snap out of it at exactly the wrong time.

"So, uh, are you going to answer my question?" He asked looking down at the blade hovering in front of him, threatening to cause serious pain. "Or are we going to just stand here?" As the sword inched further into his neck, Dante made a mental note not to piss off possibly psychotic demons with a grudge against the sons of Sparda. At least, not when he was unarmed.

"Shut up," the demon spat, "and call your brother."

"But you just told me to shut up." Dante replied indignantly. "I can't do both."

"Just call him." Trai hissed, resisting the urge to rub his forehead in despair. Why couldn't this have been simple? Revenge wasn't too much to ask, was it?

"How am I supposed to do that, scaly? I'm not telepathic or anything."

Scaly? How dare he?! Ignoring the temptation of gutting the half-breed where he stood since he needed him to barter with the older of Sparda's sons, the demon smirked as he replied coolly:

"In that case I'll have to make sure you scream loud enough for him to hear."

--

Vergil scowled as he walked down the steps. He had become so caught up in his childish revenge that he had totally missed an attack on the castle. _His _castle. It mustn't happen again. When he reached the entrance hall, the elite demons were already waiting for him, watching the front doors with growing apprehension.

"What is it?" He snapped. The leader glanced over at him.

"They've come to attack us in the middle of a storm. The rebels must have developed an armour resistant to the rain." It replied, looking back anxiously towards the door. Vergil knew what the rest of his guards were thinking without having to read their minds. If the group of rebel demons had invented something to repel the rain, what else could they have made?

"It doesn't matter, they'll still die." Glaring daggers at the door, Vergil placed a hand on the hilt of Yamato. Yet several minutes later, he was as puzzled as the demons looked. Why had they not burst through yet? The doors weren't _that_ strong. Confused, he listened to the fierce banging, trying to work out the rebel demons' plan.

"Perhaps…" An elite demon began but Vergil cut it off with a wave of his hand. The rebels knew that they couldn't take the castle with so few numbers so why were they trying to invade? Or maybe they weren't trying to invade…

"It's a distraction." Vergil snarled. "And we stood here listening to the noise like a bunch of humans. Damn it!" The demons around him shared uneasy glances.

_But what are they here for?_ He wondered. There was nothing of value in the castle except for him. (1) Vergil looked around the empty entrance hall, expecting an assassin to leap out at him any moment, but at that moment a cry of pain echoed down the halls in a voice that was all too familiar to Hell's ruler.

"Dante?!"

--

The younger son of Sparda couldn't stop the cry that escaped him as the demon's sword was stabbed through his ribs. The last wound he'd got from Vergil hadn't even healed properly yet! As suddenly as it had torn through his skin, the blade was removed and Dante toppled forwards onto the floor.

"Better." The demon remarked smugly as blood pooled around the half-demon's body. Dante tried to get back up, but only managed to balance on all fours.

"Fuck you." He muttered, wincing at the pain as the wound began to heal agonisingly slowly. Laughing, the demon placed the blood-stained sword back at Dante's neck, just as the wards around the door deactivated.

For once, Dante was glad to see his brother. Not that he would be saying that out loud anytime soon.

"You took your sweet time getting here." He spat instead, as the demon grabbed a fistful of his white hair in its other scaled hand and pulled him upright. Vergil ignored him, focusing instead on the demon that had his brother at sword point.

"Remember me?" The demon hissed, the anger of the past few months coming back in a dangerous rush. "My Lord?"

The older half-demon frowned at the mocking tone, only vaguely remembering the demon in front of him. He had made _a lot _of enemies after all….

"I'm afraid not. Nevertheless, I would advise you to release my brother immediately." Sneering, the demon tightened its grip on Dante's hair. Dante snarled, never once taking his eyes off the demon's sword.

"Of course you wouldn't remember me. I'm just another one of the demons you kicked out when you killed Mundus." Something in the demon snapped as it narrowed its eyes. "My family served Mundus for millenniums before you came along!"

"Which is precisely why I had to get rid of you, Trai." Vergil replied evenly finally able to recall who this demon was. Months of living in the slums of the demon world with the rebels had taken its toll already; the old general was almost unrecognisable. "With your whole family loyal to my predecessor you were a threat. Now let Dante go."

"I don't think so." Trai replied, taking a step backwards and pulling his hostage with him. Dante grimaced as more blood fell from his ribs onto the floor. He was getting sick of this. "Why do you care about what happens to him anyway?" The demon continued, stalling for time.

Vergil scowled, seeing the demon glance towards the open windows. If it decided to escape out into the acid rain, he wouldn't be able to follow. The rebels may have invented armour to repel the water but he didn't have it. It would also mean that the demons would be able to make a clean getaway, since the weather in the demon world occasionally lasted for several weeks.

"Listen." Vergil started, his eyes glowering as he watched the red blade dig further into his brother's neck. "If you don't let him go right now, I will kill you."

"You haven't answered my question." Tai retorted as a smirk spread across his scaled face. "But death would be a welcome release after the shame of failing my family. I'll contact you with the conditions for your _brother's_ release later. And then you'll wish I hadn't."

Dante struggled in the demons' vice-like grip, ignoring the sword at his throat. He had a bad feeling about this and Vergil didn't look too happy about it either. Sure enough, the demon suddenly leapt backwards, dragging him by the hair over to the windows where the howling wind was directing the rain at the hole in the wall's defences.

"Trai…" Hell's ruler warned, although he already knew it wouldn't do any good. The demon shot him a triumphant look and adjusted his hold on the younger son of Sparda. Vergil teleported forwards but it was already too late. Trai had disappeared into the rain, taking Dante with him.

Author's Note:

(1) Yes, Vergil's ego _is_ amazing. Being the King of the demon world does that to a person.

Thanks very much everyone, for reading. And reviewing? I felt guilty for taking so long to update so I wrote more for this chapter than usual. I hope you liked it.


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